


Sugar rush

by YouMeAtNope



Series: As Sweet As Sugar [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ace!Levi, Asexual!Levi, M/M, Tumblr Prompts, ereri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:27:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3469280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouMeAtNope/pseuds/YouMeAtNope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My favorite college experience is when I had a 7 am class and the kid next to me literally poured a Monster energy drink into his coffee, said 'I'm going to die', and drank the whole thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sugar rush

_I almost got drunk at school at 14_  
_Where I almost made out with the homecoming queen_  
_Who almost went on to be miss texas_  
_But lost to a slut with much bigger breastes_  
_I almost dropped out to move to LA_  
_Where I was almost famous for almost a day_

_[Almost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FAUz1AhpSU&list=PL0E002DAFE8BC6D7C&spfreload=10)\- Bowling For Soup  
_

 

* * *

 

Usually I wasn't one to enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn and being forced to attend an equally early 7 am class, but even though it _was_ history, I was reasonably pleased with the fact that Hanji wouldn't be attending; as the cold weather took its toll and the four-eyed freak was down with the flu. _Ah, perfect_.

Obviously the reason behind Hanji's being ill was simple; she didn't wash her hands. It wasn't much of a surprise on my behalf, as she'd always been disgustingly filthy from a young age, or so I'd heard from both her and her parents. Considering she would would rarely wash her hands after dealing with dangerous chemicals in acids whenever she had chemistry and biology; I didn't see her as the kind of person to wash her hands after taking a shit.

Shit talk aside, my morning was rather slow, and I woke up at half six and managed to get everything I needed done finished with before I even took a step out of my dorm room. With my counters washed down, floors swept and myself showered I left for class and managed to grab a coffee from the campus coffee shop/café. It was usually full to the brim, especially during morning classes when people would practically tear out hair and fight tooth and nail to reach the front of the line.

Thankfully I had some self restraint and managed to get through _without_ punching someone in the gut, which earned me an extra large cup of coffee from the barista; her way of offering me kudos for staying equally sane and managing to move around so early without looking like a brain dead zombie. I would have said she was jealous, but she had to wake up almost every single day at ridiculously early times to get to her shift on time.

It was obvious that few people were willing to work so early in the morning, and quite frankly I didn't know how she even managed to put up with it; although her paycheck was apparently rather large considering she worked so many early shifts.

I glanced up at the clock to the right of the blonde barista, checking the time as I handed her the full amount for the coffee and offered her a quick thanks as I took a brisk walk through the cold early morning air to reach the main building for my lecture. Few students seemed to be in the lecture hall, as per usual, but the number of people inside was even smaller considering people were down with the flu again.

With a hot cup of coffee I could finally start the day, and I allowed myself a few moments of peace before the class started. My peace was soon disrupted when the new kid in front of me, and a few seats to the left, pushed his chair back and scraped it against the aged wooden floor; simply making me wince from the high pitched screech. I almost jolted, and _almost_ dropped my coffee at the sound; yet all I could do was glare daggers at the back of the kid's head as he grabbed his bag and pulled a familiar can of Monster from within and almost dropped the can on his desk. He let out a string of sleep ridden, zombie like noises as he rubbed at his face and opened the can; causing a small 'tssh' to sound as the pressure was released.

I rolled my eyes at the beverage, remembering the days where I'd down can after can to keep myself awake through the early hours of the morning as I tried to plough through stacks of work and essays.

_And that, children, is how you get insomnia and caffeine addiction._

After a few moments I then dismissed the guy and took another sip of my burning hot coffee, trying to ignore the burning on my lips as I stared down at the notes I wrote down the previous day. Unfortunately, I almost regretted my decision to sip my coffee as I watched the kid in front of me again and I almost spat out the boiling liquid.

He had a large coffee cup, took the lid off and started to pour the _whole can_ ofMonster into the liquid. He smiled down at the cup, his eye almost twitching manically as he picked up the cup and said, 

"I'm going to die." 

I swear to God, I watched in sheer _horror_ as he lifted the cup filled with coffee and Monster to his lips and drank the _whole fucking thing._

 

* * *

 

He didn't even complain about the taste, and I couldn't see a single trace of disgust on his face as he placed the cup down on the desk and leaned back in his chair, left leg bouncing up and down. It made me wonder if the caffeine and sugar _really_ got to him that quickly, but who fucking knew? The kid needed help, that was for sure. College kids were fucking lethal, and I'd seen a lot of the insane ones here. Whether they needed physical help or not, a lot of the kids here were savage and needed to stay away from anything containing sugar. 

This kid however, well, he was on a whole new level. I watched him fall apart before my eyes as he sunk down in his chair and pressed his face to the wood of the desk.

 _The kid's a wreck_.

I had never seen someone go through a sugar rush so quickly, and boy did he go down quickly. The kid did look dead, and it was almost as if he predicted the future and accepted his fate and _fucking died._ The professor, a balding man, didn't even seem phased by the kid's obvious problem; probably having witnessed a lot worse in his days as a lecturer. Honestly, I wished Hanji could have been there to see the kid down over 50 grams of sugar in mere seconds. 

She'd probably have spoken to the kid to see if he was okay, but me? What was I supposed to say to him?

"Hey, kid, I saw you down that coffee and Monster and I just wanted to say that you're fucking stupid and also lethal."

That thought was almost immediately dismissed as I shook my head, and took another cautious sip of coffee; not really wanting to burn myself again. I waited for the coffee to cool before having another sip, but by that point it was almost stone cold and I regretted waking up that morning.

 I may have been one of those people that found it relatively easy to wake up in the morning, but even I had my limits. I was okay until I watched the brat down the coffee and energy drink, and I even found myself questioning the intermixing flavours. My tongue licked at my bottom lip for a mere second, wetting it slightly as I exhaled and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand as I buried my head in my text book.

The rest of the class seemed to tick by slowly, and the professor left within a few minutes of starting the class to go to the staff room; which meant that we wouldn't see him for the rest of the lesson. _Tsk, aren't teachers paid to teach?_ I pondered over that thought for a while before drawing my attention back to the suicidal kid on the next row. His hair was dark and messy, and not I-woke-up-like-this model-like-messy, but I-woke-up-with-two-minutes-to-spare and I-probably-didn't-change-my-underwear messy.

Considering his gross drinking habits, I didn't really put it past him.

_Levi do not think about dirty underwear. Do not._

Anyway, the kid still looked pretty dead, so me and the rest of the class left sleeping ugly to do his business and nap the class away; it seemed like he needed it, considering how much caffeine he dumped into his system. He'd be up for the whole night and probably repeat the process the next day, and have someone else watch him do the exact same thing.

It was hard to observe his features as his face was pressed to the desk, but I honestly couldn't care less. His parents were probably paying his tuition for nothing; as he seemed to be shamelessly napping his way through the entire class. _God, if he's like this in every class..._

I _finally_ drew my attention away from the kid and started to focus on revising some of the dates we learnt in the previous class. It was basic American West stuff you learn in the ninth grade, but in more detail; and as I knew most of the dates already, it was more or less just me refreshing my memory.

 

* * *

 

By the time the end of class came around, and the more childish students finished throwing paper planes and makeshift shuriken at one another, we took it upon ourselves to leave the class; and I walked towards the front of the lecture hall, placed my books in my bag and disposed of my wasted cup of coffee as I went. I took one last look over my shoulder, checking to see if the kid was going to wake up. A girl with brown hair tied up in a ponytail stood behind him, lightly shaking his shoulders to rouse him. He was in safe hands. If it was me, I probably wouldn't have been so gentle. 

The girl was Sasha Braus, I merely knew her name and the fact that she could eat for America - or the world... It was surprising that she wasn't overweight or dead from the crap she consumed; but hey, if she wanted to eat, I wasn't going to stop her. 

I pictured Sasha feasting and feasting without putting on a single pound, and then I stared down at myself as I moved into the cafeteria line and bought a croissant. After paying, I left with my food and sat down outside, feeling the sun beam down on my pale skin; welcoming the little heat the light provided. It was early fall, and any sun was welcomed. I pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitiser from my bag and squirted a small amount on my hands, soon rubbing in the liquid as I allowed my eyes to wander over the few people that were brave enough to venture outside.

The tree to my left cast odd patterns on the aged concrete of the floor, the sun's rays moving through the gaps in the branches and leaves to seek out a space it would pass through. My eyes closed slightly as I stared up at the sky through the gaps in the tree and caught a poor look at the sun, only resulting in temporary blindness and dark spots across my vision; which only made me hiss out in sheer displeasure as I then rubbed at my eyes, being careful not to rub any hand sanitiser into them.


	2. Questionable raspberry slushy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Monster and coffee? He can't really drink anything weirder than that, right?"  
> Oh, how wrong I was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I received a really lovely comment on the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you guys have enjoyed reading this fic. I'm trying to motivate myself enough to write further chapters for my other fics, and I hope they'll be as successful as some of the first chapters.

_Take me to the docks, there's a ship without a name there_  
_And it is sailing to the middle of the sea_  
_The water there is deeper than anything you've ever seen_  
_Jump right in and swim until you're free_.

_[Atlas Hands](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwvBpfhHcpE&index=5&list=PL8qGu4G0GXoqFFQQ7T_U5YFKKo-JxaN3g&spfreload=10%20) \- Benjamin Francis Leftwich._

 

* * *

 As the days passed, I constantly found myself thinking of the kid in my history; how he decided to consume such a disgusting concoction of Monster and coffee, and Hanji persistently pushed me to tell her what happened in the class.

"So, what happened in history? Did old man Herman leave again for coffee?" She adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose as she leaned back in her chair, watching me closely as I held my styrofoam cup full of tea by the rim. I paused, swallowed and stared up at her; leaning back in my chair as I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow. Silence fell between the two of us. Well, she fell silent as I wasn't speaking in the first place, but still.

"Hm?" 

Hanji leaned forward, interlaced her fingers and rested them against her chin as her elbows rested against the hard wooden table. She gazed across at me, a large smile on her lips as she repeated her previous question, making me roll my eyes before I finally decided to give her a verbal response.

"Yes, he left again," Her eyebrows raised as she encouraged me to continue.

"and the kid in the row in front of me poured Monster into his coffee and drank the whole thing." She dropped her hands from her chin and splayed them out on the table as she leaned forward, her expression questioning as she then spoke,

"He drank Monster and coffee?"

"Mhm." I picked my tea up once more and inhaled the scent of cheap teabags and crippling tuition fees as I took another sip and relaxed in my seat; as much as I could in a crappy plastic chair that was older than myself.

"I swear to God, it was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my entire life." I made a 'tch' sound for good measure as Hanji snorted and drummed her fingertips against the table, causing me to stare at her hand out of the corner of my eye; feeling myself grow more and more irritated with the repetitive druming of her fingertips. I finally averted my gaze and stared at her with my best resting bitch face to tell her to stop - she did.

"Oh, come on, Levi. It couldn't have been that bad." I rolled my eyes at her statement as she pushed her chair back and placed her feet on the table. I raised an eyebrow at the action and kicked the leg of her chair, making her jolt and cackle in response.

"Did your parents not teach you to keep your feet off the table? People eat here, shitty glasses." A sigh escaped my lips and I watched as a shit eating grin grew across her lips, only making me grimace in reply.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, ravioli." The statement made me sigh in frustration as I refrained from gripping the front of her shirt; instead, I moved my chair away from the table and stood up as I muttered, "Don't call me that."

 

Hanji's grin turned into a gleeful smile as she put her arms behind her head and watched me leave the cafeteria. I then made my way to the dorms; rolling my eyes at the various couples sucking face outside in the courtyard.

One guy seemed like his tongue was so far down his girlfriend's throat, I was surprised she wasn't gagging. I didn't even want to think of how many germs there were between the two of them. _Fucking disgusting._ That seemed to be one of the few thoughts passing through my mind as I stuck my hands deep inside my pockets, and moved into the building before me.

The downstairs entertainment room was occupied by some freshmen, playing some sort of card game whilst the seniors played some noisy game on the old television. How they managed to plug their Xbox into that fossil, I'll never know. They were shouting at one another, whereas the cockier, braver and dare I say more suicidal freshmen tried to wrestle the seniors for the television; screaming out a series of "We were here first"s.

It was honestly rather pathetic, but if they wanted to sit and argue over a television then I definitely wasn't going to stop them from being so childish. I left them to it, walked to the stairwell and began my descent up the aged steps as I made my way to my dorm room, passing a group of girls as they went down and I went up. They were all made up, in short skirts with ankle boots and heels; tight shirts that showed their pride for their bodies, but outfits that were going to draw some attention from guys. One of the girls, a tall, slim thing with dark brown hair that hung in soft ringlets over her shoulder offered me a small smile; her friends giggling by her sides as we crossed.

I didn't return her smile, having not enjoyed such trivial gestures for quite a few years. The girl wasn't particularly happy with my lack of a reply, I gathered, as she whined to her friends about me not returning the gesture. But that was me - I wasn't going to smile at someone as we passed in the hallways, I wasn't going to offer that familiar kindness that drew people in. I had made that mistake once,  _never again._

Smiling meant you'd eventually attract too much attention, and for me - I once attracted a small girl with chestnut hair, and glasses, that refused to leave me alone. She stuck by my side every day, and it got to the stage where she followed me so much that I decided to spend more and more time in the restroom to escape her. Unfortunately, she soon got the picture and started coming in with me; sitting in the stall next to mine as she shouted from the other side about scientific experiments and the new teachers that were probably boning one another.

I think it's safe for me to say that the guy standing in front of the sinks seemed almost traumatised as I left my stall and the girl followed me from her own. All I could do was give him a pissed off glare and he soon scuttled away and left the restroom. The girl never left my side, and it also eventually reached the stage where she even called us best friends. And that's how I met Hanji, and she still wouldn't leave... not even after four years.

 

There was a small part of me that thought fondly of those particular memories, but another part of me itched; as it was that girl that changed me. We were never together, but she changed me - made me a little more sociable. _Well, I say a little_. But that was it, I had changed only slightly; but I still changed, none the less. And looking back at those memories of Hanji and I, that small part of me that longed for friendship and human contact almost wanted me to talk to the kid in my history - just to see the person behind the Monster and coffee. Call me crazy, but I almost lusted after the thought of the two of us communicating.

The only time I had heard his voice was when he said he was going to die after drinking the Monster and coffee, and even then his voice was rather strained from exhaustion. I wanted to hear his voice when it wasn't laced with sleep; and I couldn't quite work out why I wanted to hear that. Other than the fact that I didn't get a proper look at him, I felt myself grow more and more obsessed with the need to stare at his face, head-on.

My overthinking almost caused me to walk into my door - _almost,_ but I fished my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door to my room. It was a rather lonely space within my dorm room, and I was lucky to have a room to myself, or so people said. From the moment I moved in, I had the room to myself, and Hanji had stayed over more than enough times than she should have; even though I tried everything I could to get her out and back to her own dorm room with her friend Nanaba.

Nanaba was nice enough - quiet - and that's probably why I didn't mind her company as much. How she could deal with Hanji, I'd never know. I found myself settling down on the faded blue plush couch to the side of the room, opposite the flat screen television Hanji had attached to the wall. I told her that I had no need for the thing, but she insisted, and even though I strictly told her _no_ ; I still found her inside my dorm room attaching the monstrosity to the thickest wall.

I leaned back into the plush fabric for a moment as I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of lemon disinfectant. The smell almost always calmed me, as it reminded me how clean my room was compared to all of the others on campus. Some of the things I'd seen smeared and splattered up the walls were more than enough to make you vomit, and simply add to whatever was on the wall in the first place.

Now that _was_ fucking disgusting.

I almost vomited at the thought as I forced myself to stand, and moved over towards the tiny kitchen area to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I opened the door, feeling the cool air waft around me as I reached into the depths and pulled out a cold bottle of water. After closing the door, I unscrewed the lid of the bottle and pressed the rim to my lips as I took a mouthful and felt the cool liquid rush over my tongue. My phone then vibrated in my pocket, and I groaned as I leaned against the counter and screwed the lid onto my bottle, placed it down on the side and pulled my phone from my pocket.

It was a message from Hanji. 

**Shitty Glasses : _Heyyyy Ravioli, guess who I found ;) -_ Received at 1:50 PM **

 

I sighed as I unlocked my phone and went into my messages to reply.

  **Levi : _What have I said about that name? Ugh, and I don't know, shitty glasses. Who did you find? -_ Sent at 1:51 PM**

**Shitty Glasses : _A certain monster and coffee drinking history student~ -_ Received at 1:52 PM**

 

My heart stopped for mere seconds as I stared down at the message, not really believing what I was reading. It was Hanji, you couldn't really take her seriously... "This has got to be a joke." I whispered to myself, shaking my head in disbelief as I tried to think of something to respond with.

**Levi : _Please tell me you didn't_. - Sent at 1:53 PM**

Her response was _almost_ instant.

 

**Shitty Glasses : _And if I did? - Received_ at 1:53 PM**

**Levi** : _**I'd personally find you and break something of yours. Or you. -** _ **Sent at** **1:54 PM**

 **Shitty Glasses** :  ** _Well, calm down, Ravioli; because I found his Facebook. Just wanted to know if you wanted a little looksie :)   -_ Received at 1:56 PM**

  
I held back the need to facepalm as I shook my head again, and bit my knuckle instead before picking up my bottle of water. I placed my water bottle down on the coffee table, phone vibrating in my hand as she sent a single question mark. 

 

  **Levi** : **_Send me the damn link already. -_ Sent at 1:57 PM**

**Shitty Glasses : _I knew you wouldn't be able to resist :D -_ Received at 1:58 PM  
**

 

I sighed and clicked on the link Hanji had sent me, and then proceeded to wait as the page loaded to show me a Facebook status. After absentmindedly biting my lip as I read, I snorted; taking in both the status and the comments.

 

 

_He's drinking gross stuff as a dare?_ That was the explanation that I personally perceived to be true, as I had no idea why he'd want to freely drink such vile concoctions. Then again, I didn't understand why anyone would drink shit like that for a _dare._ The thought alone personally disgusted me and I shook my head as I quietly whispered to myself,

"Fucking your body up for a dare? What an idiot."

 My lips had pulled up into a smile, and I questioned the expression as I pressed my fingers against in disbelief. _Why am I smiling?_ I honestly had no idea why I was smiling; maybe it was because the brat was a complete idiot and needed to have someone control his internet access, or maybe it was because I was finally able to have an insight on the kid's thought process. Okay, so reading one status wasn't enough to tell me what kind of person he was, but it was _almost_ enough.

I decided to leave it and not stalk the kid. I wasn't Hanji, or anything like her for that matter. Personally, I believed that stalking someone's online profile was weird, and a bit of a dick move; so I wasn't planning on searching through his personal posts; although I was tempted.

 _So fucking tempted_.

* * *

 

Later that that night I found my fingers itching as I washed up the plate and cutlery I had used for dinner. Hanji messaged me every few minutes, telling me about an old post of the Eren kid, or some photo he had posted. I did, however, find myself questioning his appearance; as his stupid sunglasses in his profile photo practically covered his entire face. My phone vibrated, shifting across the counter top as I rinsed my hands and dried them on a kitchen towel before hanging it on the handle of the oven.

After wiping the back of my hand across my forehead, I then picked up my phone and read Hanji's message before the screen turned dark.

 **Shitty Glasses** : **_He's got the most beautiful eyes, Levi. Oh my god. -_ Received at 7:24 PM**

I gaveinto temptation and unlocked my phone and typed out a quick reply. 

 **Levi** : **_Stop stalking the kid, shitty glasses_. - Sent at 7:26 PM**

 I slipped my phone into the pocket of my jeans and walked the short distance to my bedroom and stepped inside after pushing the door open. It was rather dark outside, and I had to feel my way across the wall for the light switch before I could even flick the switch. The light assaulted my vision, causing black spots to spread across my eyes. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light as I paced across the bedroom and picked my laptop up from my desk and sunk down on my bed; placing the laptop in the centre of the quilt as I fired it up, typed in my password and waited for it to load.

My phone continued to vibrate vigorously as Hanji continued to send message after message, and I turned it off after the eighth message came through as I went onto Google and opened Facebook; typed in my email and password and accessed my account. Now, I honestly wasn't planning on stalking Eren, I merely wanted to see if anything interesting was happening other than another frat party; or the usual couple being caught banging in the disabled toilets _again,_ but I found myselfmoving my cursor to the search bar and typing 'Eren Jaeger'.

The name was obviously German, and I pondered on the thought as the search results loaded, and Eren's profile was the first on the list. I could picture Hanji watching my actions over my shoulder as I clicked onto the profile and then clenched my fists, moving my hands away from the mousepad as I refrained from opening his photos.

"No, Levi. What are you doing?" I hissed at myself, simply muttering under my breath as I sighed and immediately logged out and shut down my laptop. I gathered that I needed to distract myself, which led to me putting my door bar to good use as I did my best to work out. 

After forty pull-ups, I lowered myself down to the floor, landing with my knees bent to prevent me from injuring myself as the door bar was rather high; for me anyway. I stood at an _amazing_ 5'3", living up to the name 'midget' most of the time. Hanji was one of the many people that knew not to even _think_ about commenting on my height, but she was stupid enough to cross that invisible line and deliberately annoy me. Hanji was, unfortunately, taller than me, being 5'6". Although she wasn't _that_ much taller than me, it still did wound my ego ever so slightly as people would ask me if I was her overgrown child or dwarf of a father.

Apparently, I also looked like a constipated, grumpy, 30-something-year-old man; and as you can guess, I also wasn't _particularly_ happy about that either. My lack of height was compensated by muscle, but I was pleased that I wasn't overly large; as my small frame meant I was more able to do a lot of things ... _Except reach the top shelf._

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning I was roused by the sound of my alarm wailing beside me, causing me to groan out as I slapped the snooze button and jumped out of bed to get in the shower. The water pressure was particularly shitty that morning, and I had to turn the faucet all the way, _and horrifically burn myself_ , just to get enough water. I washed myself with an apple scented soap, and used a similar apple scent for my shampoo.

Once I was sufficiently clean, I rinsed myself off and dried myself with a towel; wrapped it around my waist and set out to my bedroom to find an outfit for the day. After settling for a pair of dark blue jeans, and a black long sleeved shirt, I pulled on some socks and fresh underwear and finally pulled on the pants and my shirt. I did a temperature check to see if a coat was necessary, and decided that only a jacket was needed to keep the cool air away.

I donned a black leather jacket and left the zipper undone, slipped my phone into my pocket; put on my shoes and grabbed both my bag and keys before leaving my dorm room. It was just before seven, and I watched the unfortunate early risers trudge along into walls as they tried to move through the halls. University life seemed too much for most, and I was surprised that so many of them decided to take part on such early classes when they were incapable of being awake at such an hour.

I moved down the stairwell at a reasonably fast pace and moved past onlookers as they glared, and some complained at my ability to function so early in the morning. The birds outside sung in the early morning sun, causing some students to shout at them as they held large flasks of steaming hot coffee with huge open textbooks in their laps as they shook with fear and exhaustion; doing their best to cram in months of work into a couple of hours before their big test.

I had been there before, and the late night/early morning cramming wasn't any fun. Drinking yourself to death with coffee to keep yourself functioning wasn't fucking healthy, and I pitied the people that felt as if ten plus cups of coffee was enough to keep them awake for exams. Fortunately for me, I reached the stage where late night cramming became a distant memory, and I stuck to the occasional notes in class and studied when necessary.

The campus coffee shop was closed due to a flue epidemic, and I sighed as I pushed forwards towards my seven o'clock history class. I knew for a fact that there wouldn't be too many people inside so early, and people were either sick or avoiding people so they wouldn't get sick. It was a smart move, and it's not like it'd effect anyone's grades; because our lecturer _barely_ came in anyway, and we seemed to get better grades when he _wasn't_ there.

Once I had finally reached the lecture hall, I stepped inside and looked around, trying to see if anyone else was inside. Sasha wasn't there, probably having caught the flu from some food she had stole from somebody. That girl could eat her way out of house and home, and I questioned her metabolism frequently. 

There were a few people inside, admittedly, I wasn't as well acquainted with any of them, but they seemed pretty nerdy; so they probably did everything they could to ensure they made it to class. I made my way up the aisle as I moved towards my seat and placed my bag beside me on the desk. The room was silent, save for the occasional cough and sound of pen against paper. It was almost unnerving, and I almost missed having more people in the room; because it was _almost fucking dead_.

I felt a knowing yawn creep up on me and I rubbed my eyes as I pulled my phone out of my pocket; turned it on and waited for it to load before I started reading some of the many messages Hanji had left me.

**Shitty Glasses : _Levi, helloooooo??_ \- Received at 8:21 PM**

**Shitty Glasses : _Are you dead?_ \- Received at 9:05 PM**

**Shitty Glasses : _Ignoring people (me) is very rude, RavIOLI!!!!_ \- Received at 9:52 PM**

 

There were _many more_ messages, and I honestly couldn't be bothered to read them all. But I finally looked at the most recent set of messages as Hanji explained that she didn't feel well, and that she was going to sleep. The most recent one said that she was down with the flu, that she wouldn't be in and some other crap about me needing to be brave and not be too sad about missing her.

Footsteps sounded throughout the lecture hall and I looked up from my phone to see Eren moving up the stairs to reach his seat. He held a plastic cup in his hand full of what looked to be a questionable raspberry slushy, and I mean questionable for two reasons; for one it looked like there were pieces of waffle and some pastry inside, and two, it was questionable because the coffee shop was closed - so how the hell did he manage to get to a slushy machine?

Fuck knows what expression I was giving Eren, because he stared over at me and smiled as he slurped his second vile concoction as he then pulled the straw from his mouth and bit his lip; making my heart thud almost painfully in my chest as I stared at his smile for as long as possible before he turned away. I stammered at the back of his head for a few moments as I tried to connect the dots.

 _Was he flirting with me_?

My phone then vibrated, and I tore my gaze away from Eren to stare down at the screen as I read another message from Hanji.

 **Shitty Glasses : _Apparently Eren is the only one in Sina from your history class that isn't down with the flu. Good luck ;)_ \- Received at 7:01 AM**.

 

I looked up to stare at the back of his head again, watching as he groaned out and slammed his head down on the desk; pushing the cup away. So, questionable raspberry smoothie was a no.


	3. Root beer and banana punch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I screwed up and accidentally posted this chapter, instead of saving it. Then I found a load of typos and had to go through and sort them out, so this chapter is pretty crappy.

_Nice to meet you, where you been?_  
_I could show you incredible things_  
_Magic, madness, heaven, sin_  
_Saw you there and I thought_  
_Oh my God, look at that face_  
_You look like my next mistake_  
_Love's a game, wanna play?_

_[Blank Space](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ORhEE9VVg) \- Taylor Swift_

 

* * *

 

Friends are, and were, more than a mild inconvenience, and I had learnt that the hard way. I had a problem - a massive problem - a massive non-penis related problem. The problem's name was Hanji, and the problem was sitting on my couch, eating all of my olives, and wiping her dirty shoes over the plush blue material as she kicked the arm of the chair. I half expected the vein in my head to explode as I stared down at the mud tracks, and crumbs from the food she had previously consumed. 

She continued kicking the material, and I slowly rolled up my sleeves as I stepped towards her; making sure my footsteps were silent as I stopped behind the couch and raised my hand. She threw her head back, screaming with laughter as something funny happened on the tv. I was ready, and I swung my arm back a tad before swinging it forward, and slapped her up the side of the head. The action was enough to make her squeal, but she was well aware of the rules. She knew better than to tread mud through my room; and she _also_ knew better than to eat _my_ food and leave crumbs all over the place.

Hanji clutched at her head as she stared up at me, lips held in a childish pout as she whined. "That hurt, Ravioli!" I rolled my eyes as I folded my arms over my chest and leaned down slightly as I stared at her menacingly.

"Oh, really? What a shame. It's almost as if you didn't get mud all over my furniture and spread crumbs everywhere, my mistake." My voice was laced with sarcasm, and Hanji knew better than to retaliate. She huffed and pushed herself off of the couch; moving away from the mess she had created; holding her hands up to show that she meant no harm.

"Levi, I-"

"Save it. Just stay out of my way, I'll clean it up." Hanji nodded a little, rubbing the back of her neck as she let out a nervous laugh and moved towards my room... continuing to tread mud along as she went.

"And Jesus Christ, take your damn shoes off!" She squeaked and kicked her shoes off before running into my room; soon shutting the door behind her. I blinked slowly as I stared at the devastation she had left in her wake, and I merely pinched the bridge of my nose as I exhaled.

_Why do I even allow her to come over?_

The answer to that question was simple - I never really allowed Hanji to come over; she'd usually just invite herself over or create a big enough scene outside to force me to allow her in before campus security dragged the two of us away. There had been too many close calls, in that respect, and Hanji fucking _knew_ I'd allow her in to prevent any public disturbance.

 

* * *

 

 

If anything, I was thankful that my closet was fully stocked with various cleaning supplies as I brought out the big guns, (stain remover, bleach and disinfectant) to clean up as much of her mess as possible. The vacuum cleaner was almost my best friend, as it had saved me more than enough times when Hanji decided to trash the place and piss me off. The vacuum cleaner itself was a gift from Hanji, as she told me that she had a feeling I'd definitely need it for future accidents; and boy was she right.

I had spent hours cleaning up her mess, and I had ruined many pairs of clothes from cleaning up _her_ mess as she was incapable of finding where her mouth was, and seemed to struggle to understand that concept of " _No shoes in my fucking house_." Hanji was a menace to society, and I felt sorry for her parents whenever she went home during the holidays.

 After spending a good half an hour cleaning up Hanji's mess, I had finally finished and put the cleaning supplies away before washing my hands half a dozen times to rid my hands of the disgustingly grimy feeling the cleaning products left behind. It was then that I finally sat down on the couch and enjoyed the silence that surrounded me.

"Ah, this is nice." I murmured, leaning back into the chair as I closed my eyes; my head lulling back. My peaceful expression broke as I then realised - It was too quiet.

I slowly, and reluctantly, opened my eyes and pushed myself up and off of the couch. There was literally no noise, and it was rather concerning. Honestly, I was used to Hanji jumping off of the walls and screaming like a banshee, but she was silent. I took it upon myself to see if the shit stain was actually alive, and I moved over to my bedroom as I pushed the door open whilst saying, "Shitty glasses, you better be alive." I only had to stand in the doorway of my bedroom to see what she was up to. My laptop was in front of her, her back to me as she had Facebook open. I slowly traipsed behind her, arms crossed over my chest as I then stopped a few feet away from my bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked slowly, menacingly. She turned her head to me, smiled, and turned back to the screen as she then replied,

"Oh, you know. Just looking on Facebook." Her tone was sickly sweet, and I didn't trust her one bit. I knew Hanji too well to just accept a comment like that. Her next statement stunted me even further as she then said,

"You've looked at Eren's profile a lot of times, haven't you, Ravioli?" She turned to face me then, lips pulled up in a shit eating grin as she batted her eyelashes and raised her shoulders a little. Shit. I knew that I needed a pretty extravagant lie to get myself out of that ordeal, and I _knew_ that Hanji was way too smart to lie down and accept any of the bullshit I came out with. She took my silence as an invitation to dive even deeper, and boy did she fucking dive.

 

"Private browsing exists for a reason, ya know?" I snorted at her comment as I retorted with,

"And I didn't expect you to hack into my laptop and go into my personal information, but here you are." Hanji rolled her eyes as she stared back at the screen, her movement on the mousepad causing me a great amount of concern as I moved even closer to see that she had Eren's profile open - and she was straying dangerously close to the ' _send friend request_ ' button.

I gulped as I lunged forward. "Hanji, no!"

"HANJI, YES!!" She slammed her hand down on the mousepad and I watched the page reload as the request was sent. I grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling her backwards as I growled out;

"What have you done?" She held her hands up as she nervously laughed once more and flashed her best 'innocent smile'.

"I like to call it; helping Levi get laid...?" I growled in her face as I let go of the shirt and watched as she rubbed at her neck, complained about "abusive tops" and how she felt bad for Eren. I feigned ignorance and sunk down to my knees as I looked at the screen on my laptop, mentally whispering 'come back' at the friend request. Hanji merely cackled and left the room, shouting out a rather unnecessary;

"Have fun, Ravioli!"

I could only shout back at her, telling her to "Stop fucking calling me that!" Her cackling continued and I heard her shut the front door as she left me to wallow in my own self pity. After a moment or two of wallowing, I picked myself off of the floor and put my laptop into sleep mode before placing it on my desk as I laid down in the centre of my bed; arms and legs stretched out.

Closing my eyes, I then began to plot my revenge and find out the best way to get back at Hanji. _Maybe I could steal her cacti and hold them for ransom._ Why she named them, I'll never know. But naming two cacti after a famous cannibal? That was just plain weird. She treated those cacti like her children, and Nanaba frequently questioned her sanity as she called them "babies", and various other pet names. Even Nanaba was slipping, as she too began to treat them as if they _weren't_ plants.

 _They're fucking insane_. I nodded at my own mental comment as I placed my hands behind my head and ran the tips of my fingers across my undercut, feeling the soft velvet like hair beneath my skin. My undercut was my pride and joy, and it was honestly a lot of work to maintain, but Hanji seemed more than happy to tend to it for me when it needed trimming. I sighed, stared up at the ceiling and followed the painted patterns above me, feeling my eyes move out of focus as I stared at the tiny little bobbles for far too long.

My laptop made a noise, informing me of a new notification; and I recognised the noise almost instantly - Facebook. A groan escaped me as I looked over at my desk to glare at the machine; not wanting to move. By the time I had dragged myself from my bed at least five minutes had passed, and I rubbed at my face with the back of my hand as I sunk down onto the aged wooden chair before my desk and logged back on on my laptop. I took a deep breath as I opened Facebook again and stared at the little red notification in my activity, soon reading the text on the screen.

 

* * *

 

 

' ** _Eren Jaeger has accepted your friend request_**.'

 

I honestly felt sick to my stomach and I stared at Eren's stupid profile picture, mentally cringing at my own lack of a picture. Hanji had badgered me enough times to actually add one, and I found myself going onto my profile and trying to upload a decent photo of myself. Most of the photos I had of myself were photos that Hanji had taken without me realising, but there were a few I had taken myself. Those were the best ones, because I actually _knew_ my angles.

There was one photo that seemed half decent - one where I had my body close to the window, with the natural light peaking through the glass behind me; showing off my features in the best possible way. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find myself attractive, because I knew I was; and there were some that agreed with me. After a moment or two of flapping about, I finally uploaded the photo and inhaled deeply as I waited a minute. Another notification almost immediately popped up on the top of the screen, and I bit down on my bottom lip as I leaned in close, and clicked on the notification.

' _ **Eren Jaeger liked your photo**_.'

That probably shouldn't have made my stomach flutter as much as it did, but that is exactly what happened. My stomach fucking _fluttered_. Jaeger wanted to like my photo? Well, it was only polite to return the favour. And so I found myself clicking onto his profile and watching a new photo of him load. His arm was a held over his chest, hand gripping the fabric of his dark green shirt towards the shoulder; and his lips were pulled up into a smile; turquoise eyes fucking sparkling in the light, and his cheeks dusted a light pink. I had to admit, the brat could take a fucking good photo, that's for sure.

He was gorgeous, and I was glad that Hanji wasn't there to watch me as I moved my hand along the mousepad with trembling fingers and liked Eren's new profile photo. An unexpected thrill filled me, and I gulped slightly as I quickly left Eren's profile, and began looking down my newsfeed. Yet another Facebook notification sounded, and the chat box popped up from the bottom of the screen as Eren sent me a message.

 **Eren Jaeger** : _Hey_

A lump formed in my throat, and I tried my best to swallow it down as I blinked at the message a few times before clicking onto the chat box and replying to him.

 **Levi Ackerman** : _Hi_

Eren's reply was almost immediate, and I would have snorted and said he was desperate, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words out loud and risk him hearing; even though he was nowhere near me. My heart thudded almost painfully in my chest as I ran a hand through my hair, my other hand halting on the keyboard as I waited for a response to come to mind. Thankfully, Eren was the one to respond; putting forth a simple question.

 **Eren Jaeger** : _You're in my history, right? The 7 AM class?_

 

Hisquestionstumped me, and I felt a small smile creep over my lips as I relished in the feeling of being memorable enough for someone to recognise. It was either that, or Eren had seen me slip up in some way and just remembered me for some _terrible_ reason _._

 

 **Levi Ackerman** : _Yeah, you're the kid that decided to drink coffee and Monster, aren't you?_

 

 **Eren Jaeger** : Aha yes... I can explain

 

 **Levi Ackerman** : Oh can you?

 

 **Levi Ackerman** : Are you trying to kill yourself from consuming such crap? 

 

 **Eren Jaeger** : _Do you care that I'm killing myself from consuming such crap?_

 

A small chuckle escaped me as I read his message, pressing a hand to the side of my face as I leaned on my hand and tapped my fingers against the bottom of my laptop; thinking of an equally sarcastic reply.

 **Levi Ackerman** : _Being stuck in the same class as a corpse isn't exactly on my bucket list._

I leaned back in my seat, sinking down beneath the desk as a smirk grew across my lips. _Try and think of a comeback for that one, Eren._

His reply took a while longer, and I paced around my room for a couple of minutes as I waited for a reply. I occasionally looked at the clock at the bottom of my screen, watching as time slowly creeped past and I eventually sighed, getting ready to log off and turn off my laptop when Eren suddenly sent me a photo. I leaned closer to the screen, eyes scanning over the image as I frowned at a bottle of root beer and a single banana.

 

 **Levi Ackerman** : What the hell is that for?

 **Eren Jaeger** : Tomorrow's class :)

 

 

 

_Oh Jesus Chris_. I let out a groan as I covered my mouth in disgust, closed my eyes and rocked back and forth on the edge of my seat; inwardly cringing. I was right, Eren _was_ fucking savage.

 


	4. Root beer and banana punch part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi's got a lunch dateeee~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the second part of Root beer and banana punch (the previous chapter). Where I so cleverly screwed up and posted it by mistake, I thought I could make up for it and get out the other half as quickly as possible.
> 
> I also haven't proof read the whole of this half of the chapter, so I'll update it at some point if there are any mistakes.
> 
> This chapter is also dedicated to my favourite fan, Lynseas. (Thank you so much for giving me some ideas, and being such an amazing person. I hope this chapter pleases you!)

_I just wanna break you down so badly_  
_Well I trip over everything you say_  
_I just wanna break you down so badly_  
_In the worst way_

_Taking Back Sunday -[makedamnsure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ldjbjwim4k&index=66&list=PL8qGu4G0GXoqFFQQ7T_U5YFKKo-JxaN3g&spfreload=10)_

 

* * *

 

The rest of that night consisted of Eren and I talking to one another. I'd have said the conversation, and abundance of topics, was boring, but honestly it wasn't. Our conversation literally consisted of the two of us talking about class the next morning; and Eren asking me what other disgusting beverages I recommended he consume during the next few classes. I told him I wasn't going to recommend anything, and I also told him that I was surprised he had any taste buds; because the shit he was drinking must have tasted absolutely _vile_.

 He agreed with me on that, saying that "Some of the drinks weren't so bad," but he still didn't give me a reason for him consuming the random ingredients. He told me that it was a conversation better explained face-to-face, and that I'd have to suck it up and wait until we saw one another to get the gritty details. My stomach frequently did an embarrassing thing, where it felt as if it was filled to the brim with butterflies and an assortment of insects. That thought alone was enough to get rid of the feeling for a while, but it _did_ make me feel rather paranoid as I could have sworn my stomach was being scratched from the inside.

After a good hour or two of us talking, I logged out of Facebook and shut down my laptop to stop the constant notifications that warned me that my laptop would turn off if I didn't plug in a charger or change the battery. It was getting late anyway, and I didn't want to stay up to a ridiculous time of night talking to Eren... Well, okay, a part of me did want to stay up to a ridiculous time of night talking to Eren; but I didn't want to get too attached, or get to the stage where I copied him and consumed as much caffeine as he did in one sitting. The thought alone was rather disturbing, and I did my best to push the thought from my mind as I settled down in bed and turned off my lamp; listening to the faint sound of techno music pulsing from the next dorm room.

I rolled over, pulling the covers over myself as I settled into a comfortable sleep, with only the thought of Eren's stupid profile picture in my mind.

_Damn brat._

* * *

 

 The next morning I was awoken by the sun peaking through the gaps in my curtain. I then looked over to my alarm clock, the red flashing digits reading 6 AM. I groaned, rubbed the sleep from my eyes and forced myself out of bed and to the bathroom to shower. The cool tiled floor was like ice beneath my bare feet, and the freezing cold water didn't exactly help the situation. The water felt like shards of glass as it fell down against my bare skin, making me hiss as I moved away from the jet of water; my teeth chattering as I held out my hand, trying to wait for the water to heat up - but it never did.

With my forehead pressed against the tiles, I let out a rather long string of profanities as I cursed the freezing water; having no choice but to put my head under as I desperately needed to wash my hair. The freezing water dripped down the back of my neck, and splashed against my skin, making me jolt and hiss again as I massaged my scalp with my shampoo until I worked up a lather. My teeth continued to chatter, and I was utterly pissed off with whoever or whatever stopped my water from being warm.

"I'm going to get a fucking cold." I murmured as I wrapped a towel around my waist, using a smaller towel to dry my hair as I padded across the floor until I reached my bedroom; which was no longer warm. It fucking sucked, and all I wanted was a little heat, yet I was forced to pull on some socks, underwear, ripped black skinny jeans; a grey Henley and the warmest hoodie I had. I grabbed my bag, slipped my shoes on and made my way to the coffee shop in the most casual outfit I had worn in a very long time. With my bag over my shoulder, I finally ventured outside.

 

There seemed to be far more people than usual as I stepped outside that morning. It was colder, yes, but there were more people. _Which is just weird._ The walk to the coffee shop didn't take too long, but once inside I realised that the heating inside also didn't seem to be working. My breath left my lips in a faint mist of condensation, the same as many people within the little shop. Thankfully, not too many people were inside, so it didn't take too long for me to place my order. The barista, Annie, was a short girl who was a year younger than myself. She had blonde hair, icy blue eyes and rarely seemed to smile. She didn't speak much, and I liked her for that. She didn't pry, she didn't bother with small talk; but knew how to be polite.

She took my order with a quiet "Morning, Levi," which I returned with a nod as she set to preparing my coffee. She was dressed in her usual uniform; a brown apron with a shield emblem with two roses on one of the corners. She wore a soft white cardigan on top, obviously sharing the same problem with the cold like the rest of us. I handed her the money for the coffee, thanked her and made my way to history; stepping aside when necessary to let some people pass. As I continued my walk to history, I then realised why more people were outside - no one had any heating. It was probably against our human rights to force us to move around when none of us were particularly warm, but it was simply something that we all had to deal with. Being out and moving around warmed you up just enough, and it beat being stuck inside a freezing cold dorm room where blankets couldn't even save you.

I came to a halt outside the lecture hall, eyes skimming over the paper on the door that read.

 

**_7 AM History students,_ **

**_Please excuse my absence this morning, as I'll be out on a training course._ **

**_Please accept my sincere apologies. Today's work will be on my desk,_ **

**_and I'd like you to complete as much as you can._ **

**_Sincerely, Mr. H._ **

 

I tsked and rolled my eyes at the note, moving towards the door when a voice stopped me.

"Training course, my ass." I turned to look at the owner of the voice, and instead found myself looking up at Eren. He was wearing a green hoodie, the zipper undone and his right hand buried deep within his pocket; the other hand holding his backpack over his shoulder as he looked down at me, a small smile playing on his lips. I stuttered for a moment as I took him in, definitely liking what I was saying.

 _Oh God, his voice._ He just had one of those smooth but deep boyish voices, something that I definitely wanted to hear more of. I didn't even realise I was still stuttering until Eren laughed softly and hunched his shoulders as he murmured,

"Not much of a talker?" I cast my gaze to the ground for a moment before I looked up at him again, holding my coffee a little tighter as I replied.

"Depends if I find a conversation worthy of taking part in." I frowned slightly, seemingly staring off into nowhere as I asked myself if that statement even made sense. Ugh, it was too early. It must have made sense, as Eren playfully rolled his eyes and looked at my cup of coffee.

"No root beer and banana in there, I'm guessing?" The corner of his lips pulled up into a small smirk as he referred to our conversation the night before. I rolled my eyes, looking down at my cup as I shook my head and then gestured over to the door. Eren followed, and I shook my head a little as I took a sip of my coffee.

"No, I don't particularly enjoy tainting a good drink with crap." That caused Eren to stop duck his head, his cheeks a light pink as he pulled his hand from his pocket and stepped up to the front of the room with me as I picked up a sheet from the desk at the front. I half expected Eren to do the same, but instead he pulled a sports bottle from his bag and followed me up to the back of the room.

I sat down and he faltered for a moment, clearly not knowing whether he could sit down next to me. I nodded towards the seat next to me, and I watched as he dumped his bag on the floor and immediately sat down, a smile on lips lips once more as he put his bottle on the table. It was then that I gestured to the bottle as Eren pulled a book from his bag, setting it down on the desk.

 

"Please tell me _that_ is not what I think it is." Eren lifted his head and tilted it slightly as he raised an eyebrow and quipped,

"Would it make you feel better if I said it wasn't?" His face was the epitome of smug. He obviously believed he was so brilliant for coming up with that, and I could only lean back in my chair as I pulled my own book and a pen from my bag. Eren was still waiting for my reply and I gestured to the bottle once more.

"Well, if it _is_ what I think it is then you'll owe me lunch." He snorted, bright teal green eyes shining under the harsh fluorescent lights above us as he popped the cap to his bottle and pulled it closer to himself. "And if it isn't?" He asked, moving the bottle in a circular motion that caused the contents to slosh around on the inside.

"Then _I'll_ owe you lunch." I clarified, flipping open my book and taking a sip of coffee as I watched Eren intently from the corner of my eye. His smile grew into a grin as he lifted the bottle and said, "I guess you owe me lunch then, Levi." He closed his eyes as he took a large swig of his foul liquid, grimaced and swallowed. Eren placed the bottle down on the table, pulling a disgusted face as he looked at me, with what appeared to be tear filled eyes. I couldn't help but cross my eyes over my chest as I regarded him smugly.

"I was right, wasn't I?" Eren shook his head slowly and forced a smile as he swallowed a couple more times; then pushed his bottle as far away from himself as possible. He then turned back to face me, all traces of disgust gone from his face as he explained.

"Nope, I added punch to it."

 

* * *

 Eren barely even touched his work that lesson, he simply sat beside me; listening as the two of us occasionally conversed. My pen rested in my hand, pinched between my fingers as I copied down some questions and answered them; not really seeing the point in doing the work as it wasn't as if Mr. H even cared. Eren rested his cheek against the table as he watched me work, bright teal eyes transfixed on my every mood as he occasionally sipped his foul drink; seemingly forgetting how terrible it was the previous time. By the fourth mouthful he told me it tasted better, and I could only grimace in a silent reply.

"How can you even drink that? It looks like you're chewing on a wasp." I murmured, resting my cheek against my knuckles as he placed the bottle back down and smiled, soon opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted as Sasha called for him. Eren sighed, almost growling in frustration as he reluctantly stood up, looking over at Sasha as he shouted out, "What do you want?" He dragged out the end of his sentence, groaning a little as he pulled his attention away from me and clenched his fist. 

"Just come over here! Connie found out some juicy information about Jean!" After a long and desperate sigh, Eren turned back to me, teal green eyes filled with what I could only describe as reluctance as he bit down on his bottom lip, clenching and relaxing his hands. "Levi-"

"It's fine, go and see what it's about." I interrupted him, a weak smile growing on my lips as I gestured over to Sasha as she waved her arms; calling out Eren's name in an assortment of cat-like yowls. The brunette before me sighed again, picked up his bag and bottle and launched the bottle across the other side of the room. Sasha screamed as it sounded like the foul concoction inside Eren's bottle had been released on impact and sprayed everywhere. A rather smug grin crossed Eren's lips as he turned his head, his eyes meeting mine. I couldn't help but gaze into his eyes as I tried to depict every possible colour and shade in his beautiful teal eyes. 

Teal seemed to be the only way I could describe his stupid eyes, and I watched a blush grow across his tanned flesh as he ducked his head and bit at his lip; seeming slightly uncomfortable as he gestured over to Sasha and soon took off.

 _'What? No, come back'_ seemed to be the only thought that went through my mind as I watched Eren slowly move across to the other side of the room. For mere seconds I found myself staring down at his butt -  _his cute butt_ \- before I allowed my eyes to wander across his body. It was then that I noticed how bad his posture was; and I honestly wasn't surprised if he had a curve in his spine from the way he was slouching. My heart sunk in my chest with every step he took and I almost felt annoyed at Sasha for taking him away.

 _What if he's bored of me?_   That was another annoying thought I pondered over as I took my eyes off Eren and tried to ignore his laughs as I forced myself to get on with my work - not that I wanted to do it anyway. There was the constant reminder that Hanji was waiting for some sort of reply, and the thought made me itch as I tried to push the idea from my mind. Okay; medicine, I could do that.

I listed out the usual time periods; Prehistoric, Egyptian, Greek, etc. and noted down the important factors that occurred, my phone beginning to feel heavy against my thigh. My fingers twitched against my pen every time Eren or Sasha laughed, and the vein in my forehead pounded every time they thought it was necessary to get louder. After an hour and a half I'd had enough. I pulled my phone from my pocket, unlocked it and went onto Facebook. I scrolled through my newsfeed for a while as I tried to gain the confidence to message Eren.

"Come on, Levi. It's just a message." I murmured to myself as I opened my inbox and took a deep breath, soon clicking on the chat and typing out a small message to Eren.

**Levi Ackerman:   _Oi, brat._**

I looked up from my phone and watched as Eren pulled his own phone from his pocket, unlocked his phone and seemingly read the message. He didn't turn to look at me - he simply locked his phone and put it back into his pocket. After settling back in my chair, I set my phone down on the desk and crossed my arms over my chest; waiting.

  It was nearing the end of class and I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the actual time, before stuffing it back in and practically launching my stuff into my bag before I stood up, along with the rest of the class as they packed their things away at a snail's pace.

 

It was around nine when  I slowly made my way down the rows of chairs, and glanced over at Eren's small group as I did so. My bag felt heavy, as did my legs, and I hoped Eren could read my mind, as I practically begged him to turn around and look at me. Unfortunately, he didn't turn around, and I hunched my shoulders; feeling immensely disappointed as I pushed on and went to walk through the door.

"Levi!" The voice stopped me in my tracks and I slowly looked over my shoulder. Eren jumped up on a chair, threw himself across the table and jogged over to me, his cheeks flushed. His bag was over his shoulder, hand clutching at the strap of his backpack to keep it on his back as he came to a stop and allowed his lips to curl up into a nervous looking smile.

 He murmured an equally nervous apology for leaving in the first place, and I could only shrug in reply as a small smile graced my lips; letting him know that it was okay. Well, it wasn't - but I couldn't allow Eren to learn of my annoyance by him leaving me. His right hand slipped into the pocket of his hoodie, as he attempted to combat the cold before we ventured further from the warmth of the lecture hall. The two of us remained in a comfortable silence as we made our way to get food, and there was an unmistakable feeling of anxiety coursing through my veins as I realised that having Eren by my side felt natural - and the mere concept of that terrified me.


	5. Barista style coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Insulting Eren had never been my intention – I literally just wanted to compliment his eyes; and that obviously wasn't my best move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter, I've just had some stuff going on and I've been incredibly unmotivated. I really want this fic to reach the stage where it'll get enough readers that fanart is produced, I think that would be cool.
> 
> Anyway, here's chapter 5.

_I don't know where I'm at_  
_I'm standing at the back_  
_And I'm tired of waiting_  
_Waiting here in line, hoping that I'll find what I've been chasing._

[Down ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiABsEjapes&list=PL53495ECBBC596E49&index=2)\- Jason Walker

* * *

 

I’d like to say that Eren and I grew closer after spending lunch together – but in all honesty, it seemed like he was ignoring me. He suddenly ignored my messages on Facebook, and also avoided me in class. Hanji told me that he must have seen the “Rude and frightening Levi, and decided to escape while he still had the chance.” His absence upset me at first, but after a while I just grew annoyed. Okay, so I wasn't the friendliest guy around, but I didn't say anything particularly offensive to the kid.

Now that I think about it, I did reflect on the things that I had said to him; and the only thing I said that may have unsettled him was that I merely complimented his eyes. He had the most beautiful eyes… Okay, now that I think about it, I told him that his eyes were weird; but I meant it in the best way possible.

_Way to go, Levi._

Insulting Eren had never been my intention – I literally just wanted to compliment his eyes; and that obviously wasn't my best move.

 

“So, what did you actually say to him?” Hanji asked, head tilting with her question as she sat across from me in the cafeteria. I shrugged lightly as I sipped my tea, thinking back to the dubbed ‘Day Levi Ruined Everything’, and tried to seem as if I wasn't a complete asshole as I lied and said,

“I told him I liked his eyes.” Hanji rolled her eyes and snorted, and it was then that I realised that she spent way too much time hanging around me; considering she had started to pick up on my habits. She leaned forward, fingers clutching at her plastic cup from the campus cafe – filled with banana milkshake.

“Don’t give me that, Ravioli, we both know that’s a lie. What did you _actually_ say to him?” I exhaled deeply as I placed my cup down on the table and sighed as I played with the little string from the teabag that hung over the side of the rim. “I may have tried to compliment him, and told him that he had weird eyes.” Hanji’s eyes widened and she slammed a fist against the wood of the table, shooting me a look of disbelief.

“Levi! I can’t believe you!” She practically screeched, causing many people to turn and stare our way with pissed off expressions. I sunk back into my chair, leaving my cup and staring down at my fingernails as I waited for Hanji to continue - but she didn't.

"Shitty glasses, I already know that I fucked things up. Screaming at me isn't going to solve a single thing." I murmured, a bored expression plastered on my features as the brunette opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out for a few moments. Maybe I was a little harsh, but honestly, it's not like I meant to upset Eren; and Hanji usually was one to jump the gun when it came to mistakes I had made.

 

A sigh passed my lips as I stared down at the table, tracing the grain with the tips of my fingers as I spoke in a hushed whisper. "I didn't mean to say that to him, it was an accident. I wanted to compliment him-" With a light shake of her head, Hanji gently patted the back of my hands with her fingers; soon retracting them as I shot her a glare. She held her hands up, soon clasping them and resting her hands against the table in front of us. A small smile curved on her pale lips and she nodded intently; informing me that she wasn't angry and that she wanted me to explain.

I inhaled deeply and ran my finger across the brim of my cup, feeling the hot steam from my tea hit my fingers. I would have winced at the heat, but I had enough experience with hot beverages to be effected anymore. 

"I meant to say that he had beautiful eyes, but I felt flustered and I told him that they were weird. Honestly, I didn't mean to say weird, it just slipped out." I then groaned, pressed my palms to my face and refrained from slamming my forehead through the table. Hanji sighed in reply, gently poked my hand and muttered a soft, "Hey," causing me to look up at her with a curious expression. "Yeah, you screwed up. But, Levi, the guy has got to like you the tiniest bit if he spent a while talking to you over Facebook. He even sat with you during class, and didn't you say he seemed "like a lost puppy" when you almost went to lunch without him?

"That has to count for something, right?" She did have a point. Eren wouldn't have spent time with me if he disliked me, and I didn't see him as the kind of person to do something for another out of pity. He had no reason to pity me... _Unless he noticed I rarely speak to anyone._ That made sense. Eren could have pitied me for having few friends, but I highly doubted that. 

Hanji seemed to sense my inner turmoil, and she inhaled deeply, pushed her glasses up her nose and continued to watch me for a few seconds; evidently awaiting my reply. "I just don't know what to do. I'm not one for apologising, and even though I didn't mean to say his eyes were weird, I doubt he'd believe I was sorry. What if it's not about the whole eye thing? What if he just can't stand me?" After a moment, the girl in front of me let out a small laugh and pushed her chair back away from the table as she then gathered her bag and pulled it over her shoulder.

She stepped around the table and placed a hand on my shoulder, my eyes following her movements as she squeezed gently and smiled as I eyed the hand on me. "I'll do what I can." Was her only reply, before she took off and made her way out of the cafeteria; leaving me there to nurse my slowly cooling tea as I reflected on my last moments with Eren. The kid was screwing with my brain, that was something that I was certain of.

 

"Damn brat." I whispered, shaking my head as I curled my fingers around my cup; feeling the heat slowly start to get to me as I bowed my head and closed my eyes for a few mere moments before I stared out of the window; a long and heavy sigh escaping me.

Eren was like a drop in the ocean, a single drop of ink in a glass of water that blossomed out and swirled around the liquid; turning the water from colourless to a weird shade of grey. For me, grey was soothing, grey meant neutral. Grey meant no promises or broken promises, for that matter. I didn't want to be held down by another person because they wanted me to change - I didn't want to change. Hanji had never been in a relationship, like myself. Although I seemed like one of those mysterious guys you hear about in stories - that wasn't exactly me.

The mysterious guy meets a girl, gets close to her, the two of them date and then some girl would tell her that he had fucked pretty much all of the girls on the cheer leading squad. The two of them break up, the story finishes. Like I said, that wasn't me. I hadn't fucked anyone, and to be honest; the idea disgusted me.

 So, within the deep depths of grey and off white, Eren was in the middle somewhere. I knew that I was interested in him; but after his period of ignoring me, I felt some mild irritation towards him... With an underlining trace of affection.

_Don't be so stupid, Levi. You barely know him._

 

I found myself staring into space for a while, my tea had been cold for a while and the cafeteria seemed rather empty; save for myself and a few others that stuck around for a bit longer before having to go back to their dorm rooms, or being forced to some small social gathering.

After a few more minutes of wallowing, I chose to move and took one last sip of my drink before throwing the cup in the trash, hearing the contents splash against the inside of the trash bag. As I walked across the cafeteria I watched as Sasha followed me with her eyes, glaring slightly as she murmured something out of the corner of her mouth to the bald kid next to her. After feeling my eyes strain from trying to continuously watch the two of them through my peripheral vision, I averted my gaze and looked forward as I held my bag over my shoulder and finally exited the food hall.

_Why was she staring at me like that?_

I couldn't even answer my own question, but I just knew that she didn't like me for whatever reason. If she wanted to be subtle as she spoke about me to baldly, she obviously didn't know how to be subtle; as it was _painfully_ obvious I was the subject of their conversation. I tried not to let it bother me.

My bag felt relatively light against my shoulder, causing me to sigh in relief as I had far too many days where I had to drag a bag filled with textbook upon textbook; until I reached the stage where I left them at my dorm room. Hanji burnt the rest, or so she told me. I couldn't imagine shitty glasses sitting down, and _willingly_ burning books of any kind, so it wouldn't surprise me if she didn't burn the books like she said she had. After finding a decent seat towards the back of the library, I dropped my bag down on the desk.

 I searched around for a while, glaring at the librarian every time I accidentally smacked my elbow on something, or hit my head on a shelf. Of course, with every knock, I'd let out a soft "shit", and she didn't seem particularly pleased about my frequent cursing. I'd have done it deliberately just to annoy her, but I didn't really want to be banned from the library before exams started.

 After a few more minutes of aimlessly searching, I found a rather clean copy of The Picture of Dorian Grey. I remembered seeing some of it when I was like thirteen, but I could barely remember anything that happened in it. The book felt heavy in my hand, being a hardback, and I sat down, opened the book and started reading.

 

_The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn._

"What a pretentious piece of-"

"SHH."

I slowly turned around, eyes narrowed as I glared over at the librarian for the umpteenth time, her arms crossed over her chest as her glasses slid further down the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, come on, you barely heard me." I rolled my eyes and she merely snorted, turned her back to me and started sifting through some files on the shelf behind her. I was pretty sure she had it in for me, that was for sure. Maybe I made a mistake when I accidentally knocked over a book shelf... Or four... But hey, it was a complete and utter accident.

 A breath escaped my lips as I stared back down at the book in my hands, forcing myself to read the garbage just to pass the time.

* * *

 

My knees ached as I rose to my feet, pushing myself up with my slick hands as I drew in a sharp, ragged breath. My body was caked with sweat, and I was glad that I removed my shirt halfway through, or it'd have been soaked with my own perspiration by this point. I used the back of my hand to smooth my hair away from my eyes, doing my best to avoid wiping my forehead of any sweat.

 My back ached - everything ached. I was pretty sure my ass even ached, either that or I needed a massive shit. Speaking of a massive shit, I hadn't heard anything from Hanji ever since she left me at lunch; which was surprising for her, as she'd usually text me a hundred times, regardless of whether she was working or not. I almost felt the need to text her.  _Almost._ Thankfully, I resisted the urge to text the piece of shit, and forced myself to throw my shirt in the laundry hamper and take a shower.

 The water was thankfully hot again, and I reveled in the heat that the water provided, and I could feel the sweat basically evaporate off of my skin. My shower didn't take too long, and I was out, dried and dressed in under ten minutes. By the time I brushed my teeth and settled down into bed, I then realised that the screen of my phone was lit up with a multitude of text messages from Hanji.

 

**Shitty Glasses: _Guess what I've found out~ (; -_ Received at 11:30 PM**

**Shitty Glasses:** _**Ffs are you cleaning again? -** _ **Received at 11:32 PM**

**Shitty** **Glasses: _Stop cleaning pls. -_ Received at 11:32 PM**

**Shitty Glasses: _I know you're not asleep, Raviolo ;;))_ \- Received at 11:33 PM**

**Shitty Glasses: _RAVIOLI* FFS_ \- Received at 11:33 PM**

 

I'll admit, I snorted at that one. My eyes were heavy, clearly warning me to sleep soon or be forced to wake up early in the morning with the foulest mood known to man. I ignored the heavy sensation of my drooping eyelids and shot Hanji a reply within seconds.

**Levi:** _**What is it, shitty glasses?** _ **Sent at 11:34 PM**

**Shitty Glasses:** _**Don't be so rude! (; Anyway, I just wanted to say that I found out some info on Eren from a reliable and anonymous source, and I'll relay the information to you tomorrow.** **-** _ **Received at 11:36 PM**

I felt myself perk up at the mere mention of his name. But at the same time, I felt mildly pissed off at him; and I had a feeling that Hanji _knew_ that too.

**Levi: _And why do you think I'll be interested in this information?_ \- Sent at 11:38 PM**

**Shitty Glasses: _Because I know why he's not talking to you._ \- Received at 11:39 PM**

 

I couldn't help but clench my fists. The little shit wangled her way around campus and got information on Eren? Why? Honestly, I couldn't even answer that question. But it was Hanji after all - and she was anything if not efficient when it came to getting the dirt on something that peaked her interest. And in this particular case, Eren's ignoring me seemed to greatly peak her interest.

  **Levi:** ** _Can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm exhausted._ \- Sent at 11:41 PM**

**Shitty** **Glasses:   _Of course! But I'll be at yours extra early tomorrow morning :D -_ Received at 11:42 PM**

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, Hanji did have some information on Eren. As for the identity of the "anonymous source" she still refused to give me any insight on the person that told her all of the stuff she was relaying to me. 

_It's not like it'd be difficult to find out the brat that squealed._

I didn't believe myself on that one - it's not like I was friends with enough people to socialise enough to find out who Hanji spoke to the previous day. Hanji did in fact tell me that Eren wasn't angry about me calling his eyes weird, he was just embarrassed and "had a lot of work going on." Now that, I didn't believe. Eren was the same kid that consumed an insane amount of caffeine and then proceeded to fall asleep for the rest of class. 

I didn't see him as the kind of student to be fussed about work, if I'm being blatantly honest. Maybe he'd burn the midnight oil a few hours before finals by cramming in revision, but finals were still a while away; he wouldn't be studying, that was for sure.

 "He likes you, Levi, that's for sure. He's just... shy." 

My eyes stung as I rolled them for the umpteenth time. I really needed to lay off rolling my eyes so much, or I'd pull a muscle... again. I chose to stay silent as I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back against the soft material of the sofa as Hanji sat at the other end, hand constantly disappearing into the packet of dried fruit she held.

Usually I'd slap her up the side of the head, tell her not to eat food on my sofa; but I took to narrowing my eyes at the bag and watching to see if she left any crumbs; which she didn't. Her right shoulder shifted as she shrugged lightly and swallowed her mouthful of dried fruit.

"Just message him, apologise, he'll  reply; he won't be angry. _Trust me_." I huffed and raised an eyebrow at the last part of her sentence. "You're asking _me_ to trust _you_? If you think that is happening, then you can think again. As for apologising? That, I don't do."

She placed the bag of food down on the coffee table and pulled her feet up onto the sofa and underneath her thighs as she placed her hands on her lap and tilted her head. "You like, him, right?"

I took that moment to glare at her, attempting to put forward the idea that I was disgusted by her statement.

"What gives you that idea? Why would I be interested in a brat like him?" A loud sigh left her lips as she shook her head and readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "Don't play dumb with me, you know you like him, I know you like him." The look she shot me through the lenses of her glasses was meant to be threatening, but I wasn't easily fooled.

"And if I don't apologise?" I quipped, the corner of my lips pulling up into a smirk of some sort as I addressed the brunette. She then took the time to roll her eyes as she stood up and grabbed the bag on the table.

"Then I'll publicly embarrass you or hack your Facebook again and send a long grovelling apology to him, maybe even both; I haven't decided yet." 

 

An agitated growl passed my lips at I glared up at her, my face clearly the epitome of unimpressed. I would have shot back with a "You wouldn't dare" but it was Hanji; she _would_ dare. A shit eating grin spread across her lips and she slipped her bag into her backpack beside her. She slipped the strap over her shoulder and moved towards the door as I followed her with my eyes. She opened the front door, turned to me and said, "Oh, and by the way, he likes barista style coffee."

I didn't even need to take the time to question her statement, as I already knew what she was getting at. As she closed the door I sighed, knowing that she knew that I didn't have the balls to message Eren on Facebook. But that didn't mean that I didn't have the balls to meet him face-to-face and present him with an apology coffee.


	6. Please accept my deepest chicken nuggets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi needs to learn to think before he speaks... again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend attack-on-bertl.tumblr.com/ helped me come up with the name for this chapter. Thank you, Weeaboo Rodriguez, and I finally have my first piece of fanart from the lovely Rachel (said weeb).
> 
> http://llawlietamane.tumblr.com/post/118387570685/llawlietamane-kms-bye-celine-my-fav
> 
> It's an amazing gif of the whole "Bye Celine!" Bit from Reiner, and I love it so much.
> 
> Also; Joe, why are you reading this trash?

  _I gotta say something I've been thinking about._

 _I can't wait to lay around with you._  
_And tell you all the secrets I've been keeping to myself._  
_It's been awhile since I've felt butterflies._  
_Do you feel the same way too?_

We Are The In Crowd - [Kiss Me Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM3Rv2RO1Do)

 

* * *

I wanted to apologise to Eren, honestly I did, but well; I was simply a little bit stubborn. Or as Hanji liked to call me, "A major fucking wank stain." The word alone made me want to cringe and force every single part of my body to shrivel in on itself and die. Although I wanted to apologise, I found myself not knowing the right words to say, or the right time to say them.

Three times I tried to apologise, and I was either interrupted or chickened out before Eren even realised I was there. I had a large cup of barista style coffee in my hand, like Hanji said, and I spotted him lying down on the grassy verge between the cafeteria and the walkway that led inside. The coffee was already burning my fingers, and the added heat from my already clammy palms wasn't helping the whole heat situation in the slightest.

One of his hands was covering his eyes, shielding them from the sun as his other hand tapped against his stomach continuously as if he was tapping out the beat of a song. As I stepped closer to him, opened my mouth to call out his name when Reiner fucking Braun decided to make an entrance.

"Yo! Jaeger, whassup?" I cringed at the tail half of his sentence, feeling incredibly fucking embarrassed for being interrupted and also feeling equal parts pissed for missing the chance to actually talk to Eren and apologise. Eren's entire body practically lifted off of the grass as he jumped and sat up, staring looking over at Reiner.

 So, I was forced to watch the blonde haired muscle man move over to Eren and hover over him like a fucking shadow as he crossed his arms over his chest and bellowed out almost every single word he directed at the kid.

"HOW YA DOING OLD ROGUE? ENJOYING THE SUN?"

I could have sworn I heard Eren shriek as he started to wave his arms crazily to Reiner as he looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the scene. My body shifted as I backed up and leaned against the small wall to my left to look a little more casual, and less suspicious. 

"WHY YA CRYING, JAEGER?"

_Jesus Christ, who put **you** on the planet?_

 

Reiner Braun was an insufferable jock that shouted out almost every single thing he ever said. People said that he was part of the wrestling team in high school and was punched in the ears and thus lost the ability to hear properly, but from where I was coming from he just sounded borderline retarded. And Hanji had the balls to call _me_ a wank stain

"Rogue? Why did he call him Rogue?" I whispered to myself, soon snapping out of my own internal monologue as I watched Eren scramble to his feet and pick up his bag as Reiner turned back to look at his two friends that lurked towards the entrance of the cafeteria. 

"THAT ROGUE NEEDS TO CHILL, AM I RIGHT?" His friend, Annie, crossed her arms over her chest, seemingly bored as she murmured something to the guy next to her. Eren rushed away, practically sprinting as his backpack swayed menacingly against his back as he moved towards the main building.

"[Bye, Celine!](http://llawlietamane.tumblr.com/post/118387570685/llawlietamane-kms-bye-celine-my-fav)" Reiner called, voice deep and almost teasing as he waved a hand in a way that one can only describe as camp.

* * *

So, as you can imagine my apologising to Eren didn't happen the first time I tried... Or the second... Or even the third. If anything I was planning on giving up, seeing as every time I tried to apologise I never got anywhere. I didn't want to give in and message him over Facebook though. No, I liked to avoid things but wasn't a complete pussy. Well, I say that but-   I was close to messaging him after Hanji continuously pestered me. 

She had left the living room, going off to the bathroom to piss or whatever it was she was going to do; leaving her phone behind on the coffee table. Now, in this case I was curious because she'd be constantly messaging someone, laughing at everything this person was sending to her; and I could have sworn she was plotting something.

As soon as she left the room her phone lit up, and I found myself leaning forward on the edge of my seat as I glanced over in the direction of the bathroom; making sure she was definitely inside as I peered down at the screen before it turned dark.

  **Armin Mushroom Arlert:** " _Is Levi even going to apologise to Eren?"_

_Who the hell is Armin?_

 It was then that I realised that I'd only be able to see snippets of what this Armin kid was saying, as Hanji's phone was locked. I hissed in frustration as another message came through merely seconds later.

 **Armin Mushroom Arlert:**   _"Make him come over here now, Eren is"_

 

I practically lunged for the phone as I hissed, "Eren is what?!" I _needed_ to know what that message said. The toilet flushed and I froze, throwing myself back in my seat to get as far away from the phone as I possibly could. I didn't even wait for the sound of the water running, because Hanji still refused to wash her hands; saying it helped build up her immune system, which was bullshit considering she was always fucking ill. 

Footsteps sounded and I watched the phone light up one more time with a new message.

 **Armin Mushroom Arlert:** _"I can give you our address, if you want"_

That was the message I needed. If Eren was in his and this Armin kid's dorm room then I just needed to get the address off of Hanji and go there. Simple. Accept it wasn't. Hanji was a strong believer in frequently changing her phone's password, which meant as soon as I found out her password, she'd have a new one. 

She moved over to the sofa once more, eyes immediately fixing on her phone just before the screen turned dark. I remained silent, knowing that anything I said about her receiving messages would only end up with her knowing that I saw what Armin said. She reached out a hand and grabbed her phone, immediately unlocking it and sitting back down next to me as she went straight into her messages, allowing me to see the message Armin just sent her.

 **Armin Mushroom Arlert:** _Sina 423. Hurry D:_

That was all I needed to know, but my issue now was that I couldn't leave without Hanji knowing. 

 

* * *

 

_Why won't she leave?_

I tried everything; pretended I needed a shit, said I needed to clean - work out - but nothing worked. It was as if she  _knew_ that I wanted her to leave, and that only seemed to make her stay even longer. After an hour I thought about giving up, but that was until I watched Hanji raise her legs as she went to rest her feet on the coffee table. I clenched my fists, flew forward and grabbed the back of her shirt, watching as her dirty sneakers just brushed the edge of the table; causing flakes of dirt to fall off onto the surface and the floor.

"That's it, get out." I practically pulled her up off of her seat, pulled her in the direction of the door and opened it; soon pushing her outside as she squealed and failed; seeming to laugh at my actions. Once she was outside I closed the door, turned the key in the lock and went to walk away when-

"Leviiii? Helloooo? My bag is inside!" 

_Oh for fuck sake._

"Tsk." I sped off in the direction of the living room, picked up Hanji's bag and didn't even bother to check it was closed as I opened the front door and flung it out into the night; heaving a squeal as it seemingly collided with some part of Hanji's body. "LEVI!"

I rolled my eyes as I locked the door once move and soon backed away, moving to grab a jacket and slip on my shoes. I waited at least five minutes before leaving to ensure Hanji was safely away from my room before I took off. Of course it was five minutes of constant pacing, and I was pretty sure the people in the dorm below me were getting agitated with my pacing. I finally slipped my phone into my pocket and took off in the direction of Sina.

 

 It took around ten minutes for me to successfully find the room, and I regretted leaving my dorm in such a thin jacket, because it was freezing cold and the wind just didn't want to quit. As I walked up to the door I couldn't see anyone around, nor could I hear anyone inside. I thought about leaving, but stopped. 

_Eren could be right inside, listening to music or something. Or this Armin kid could be inside and tell you where he is if he's not there. Don't be a baby._

That was true - I didn't need to be a baby - all I needed to do was knock on the door and ask if Eren was in; that was all. And that is what I did. It didn't take long for someone to answer the door, and I sucked in a deep breath as a small blonde boy opened it and peered out at me.

* * *

"You're Armin, right?" The blonde before me nodded and smiled, hair shifting with the movement as his whole posture changed and he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. "Let me guess, Hanji told you I was the one that told her about Eren?" I simply rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, informing him that he was wrong as I then replied.

"Let's just say that Hanji couldn't be subtle if it slapped her in the face." Armin genuinely looked confused, and his expression and the whole mushroom hair thing reminded me of Toad from Mario  - a literal mushroom, or in Armin's case; a mushroom head. That explained Hanji's contact name for him.

_Heh._

"So how did you find out?" He asked, seemingly interested on what I had to say on the matter. I gave it to him straight, told him that Hanji needed to at least think of a better name for him on her phone; or she at least needed to take her phone with her if she was planning on speaking to Armin, considering I saw more than enough message notifications to inform me that Armin Arlert was the 'mole' in the whole Eren information thing Hanji had going on.

  _Yeah Hanji really can't do subtle._

Armin's mouth formed a small o of realisation and I nodded once as I moved my hands into the back pockets of my pants as I then chose to speak. "So, I'm guessing Eren isn't in, right?"

"You're right, he's not. He's went out around an hour ago, and said he was going to McDonalds; so if you're planning on going and finding him, then he should be around there somewhere." 

Trust Eren to eat and drink the worst possible things a few hours before bed. I was surprised the brat was still alive considering he always seemed to consume things he shouldn't. Armin seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, and I watched as he sighed and rubbed at his eyes for a few moments before offering me a smile.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I slowly turned away from the doorway and took a step forward, turned my head to face him and added, "Have a good night, Armin."

"Thanks, Levi, you too." I nodded once and turned back, walking away from the dorm room and heard the audible click as Armin retreated inside and shut the door. 

* * *

The walk to McDonalds was a cold one, and I found myself constantly burrowing into the depths of my thin hoodie to seek out warmth from the depths of the material. It took me around twenty minutes to reach the fast food restaurant, and I went inside to buy a coffee and a hot apple pie; relishing in the available warmth both the building and food and drink brought. After a brief look around at the booths I sighed, not being able to see Eren anywhere.

_Maybe I'll just have to message him._

Instead of settling down inside and eating my apple pie, and drinking my coffee, I decided to move outside once more. The faint lighting from a nearby Target could be seen, and a small wall stood at the side. The perfect place to wallow in self pity.

I looked from left to right as I crossed the road, clutching my coffee as my apple pie remained in the wrapper inside of my jacket pocket. As I approached the entrance and grew closer to the wall, I noticed a shopping cart moving slightly in the very centre of the parking lot. A frown grew on my features as I grew closer to the cart, seeing the silhouette of a figure that sat on the inside of the cart itself. Light above flickered and it was then that I recognised the dark messy hair, and a familiar red hoodie. 

_It can't be... can it?_

I took the chance, took another step forward as I licked my lips and then called out his name.

"Eren?"

 

Strangely enough, the figure turned around and called out my own name in return. "Levi?" I couldn't help but allow a small smile to grow on my lips as I nodded and moved even closer towards the shopping cart, quickly glancing at the open box he held on his lap. 

"Late night snack?" The lighting was good enough for me to see the slight eye roll he gave my in return as he sat up straight in the cart, causing it to shift slightly. He nodded, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gazed up at me; teal eyes shining softly under the light above us.

"What are you doing here, Levi?" He asked softly, gaze moving from mine as he stared down at his lap again and I could only shrug; hearing the coffee slosh around on the inside of my cup.

"I could ask you the same thing." He frowned.

"Well, Hanji and Armin have been scheming and wanted me to come and apologise to you; so, here I am... Apologising."

 

It was then that Eren looked up at me once more, a small smile curving on his lips as he opened his box and pulled out a-

_Chicken nugget...?_

"The whole point of apologising, Levi, is that you actually say you're sorry." He quipped, lips now curling into a smirk as he took a bite of the food between his fingers.

The chicken...

The chicken nugget.

The-

 

"Please accept my deepest chicken nuggets."

 

It was at that very moment that I felt my whole life flash before my eyes. It was as if the whole world had turned silent, only to listen in on the major fucking cock up I made in that moment. I, Levi Ackerman, offered my deepest chicken nuggets to Eren Jaeger. Not even my deepest apologies, I offered him a chicken nugget that I didn't even possess. The silence was suddenly broken by- _Eren laughing...?_ My heart pounded,  _fucking pounded_ , in my chest as I listened to him laugh into the dark and empty space around us.

My cheeks heated, my hands felt clammy, and I could have sworn I nearly dropped my coffee as I listened to the most beautiful sound I had ever witnessed. Eren was laughing at me, and I didn't feel angry either. He threw his head back and  _laughed_ , clutching at his stomach with both hands, chicken nuggets flying through the shopping cart. I couldn't even think straight as I listened to that beautiful laugh leaving his lungs and lips.

It was a sound that I never knew I needed until that very moment. I wanted to apologise, I cocked up, and he was laughing at me. It was then that I gave in, and I began to laugh with him; feeling completely and utterly ridiculous. It was nine PM and we were in a parking lot laughing because I offered Eren chicken nuggets rather than an apology. I could have sworn it took a whole five minutes before the two of us stopped laughing, our stomachs aching from the tremors that rolled through our bodies.

Tears slid down my cheeks, my face felt warm and flustered and I couldn't have been happier. Eren then took the chance to climb out of the cart and stood to his full height, looking down at me as he wiped some tears away from his eyes as he shook his head and let out one last humour filled sound.

"Jesus Christ, Levi. I wanted an apology, not a chicken nugget." My stomach twitched again and I did my utmost to ensure that I didn't allow another laugh to escape me; it'd hurt me too much.

 

"Let it go, Eren." I ordered in a mocking tone as I rolled my eyes, exhaled deeply and tilted my head. His lips pulled up into another smile as he then bit at his bottom lip as he let out a breath of his own, doing his best not to break out into hysterics again as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Try again." His voice was so much softer this time, like he was asking me for a kiss-

_A kiss? Right, Levi._

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, and I looked up at him, then back down at the ground as I began to speak. "I'm sorry for offending you, when I said your eyes were weird. I don't think before I speak and-"

"I forgive you."

I took my chance to whip my head up as I stared up at him again, my lips parting as I frowned. "You forgive me?" The brunette before me nodded, smile never fading; if anything it seemed to have doubled in size as he took a step towards me and put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Levi, I was never really mad in the first place. I just- I got scared, I guess. People always stare at my eyes, most people compliment them and I just-" He sighed then and lightly moved his hand from my shoulder, "I wasn't mad, don't ever think that I was." Whatever he wanted to say, it was clearly difficult for him to put it into words, so I simply nodded.

 

"You don't have to explain yourself, Eren. I get it." He seemed to let out a breath of relief and looked back at me again, smiling once more.  _Smiling suits him_ , I was certain of it. It was then that he decided to ask the big question,

"Why did you come all the way here to find me though? I mean, you could have messaged me on Facebook or found me back on campus." He seemed genuinely confused as he tilted his head, and I didn't even realise that the two of us were walking until we looked both ways before crossing the road.

"Well, I'm not one for apologising by message, I think it's a bit of a dick move. And Hanji was expecting me to talk to you face-to-face anyway; as for speaking to you at college - I tried, I was interrupted though, heh."

"Who interrupted you?" He asked as we made it safely to the other side and continued. 

"Just Reiner, called you Celine if I remember correctly." Eren laughed almost nervously as I passed him the coffee in my hand, telling him it was for him. He smiled then, thanking me before taking a sip and letting out a lewd noise of enjoyment. I gulped, pressing forward as I then asked him another question,  
  
"That reminds me, why did he call you Rogue?"

The look of sheer terror and embarrassment in his eyes didn't tell me what I wanted to know, but it was enough for me to know that it was one embarrassing story that he wasn't willing to tell, not at that time anyway.


End file.
